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Andrew Conroy

Julie is out!

We’re always excited to release new characters. We work hard on these guys for months and months and then, blam! The character is out and it takes on a life of its own. Everyone on the team agrees that seeing your animations of these characters is some of the most fulfilling work we’ve done. And we’ve worked on some cool projects.

Back when I left VFX and feature animation for education and Long Winter, I was really concerned about not being able to animate like I had in big studios. I remember doing a test animation at Blue Sky years ago (my first job in film). The rigs were so cool! I felt like I was using acrylics after years of sibling with crayons. So, when I started building rigs with LWS the goal was to make rigs that I as an animator would enjoy using. I wanted intuitive controls, natural flexibility, expressiveness and appeal right out of the rig! I wanted to see the skin move, the eyes feel alive and I wanted it all done with as few controls as possible while having the ability to move everything if I wanted. It’s a tall order, I know. But, with a long road of testing, trying, failing, succeeding and refining behind us, I think we have made something very cool.

There are a lot of components that go into making characters ready for animation. From the paper to polygons to python, the team has stepped up and worked hard over the past year. Not just with Julie but with a load of new characters and projects. I am personally very excited to see what you guys can do with these new characters. So be sure to send your clips back to us! We truly can’t get enough of what you guys are doing out there.